Tips For Going To Origins/Worlds?

There is about a 10% chance I will be able to go to Origins. Do people have any tips about logistics? Like hotels, getting to and from airport, getting to and from the show, etc? Trying to both price this out and see how feasible this is. Thanks in advance for any and all tips you might have!

There's a incredibly small chance I'd go to Origins. The new baby is due June 14th. For me to go, the baby would have to come like 5 weeks early, and have no problems that require a NICU stay. Now, that IS what happened with Abigail (my daughter who helps me on my podcast segment). So it could happen. But not likely. Which sucks since I live less than 2 hours away.

I'm in a similarish boat to Randy. I just welcomed kiddo number four to the world on Tuesday (early congrats to Randy! four kid parents are a rare breed these days!). My ability to go is mostly contingent upon my wife feeling comfortable with a six year old, two four year olds, and a six week old all by herself. So my original post is largely secondary considerations to avoiding the spousal veto.

I gotta say though, the prospect of playing Shawn and potentially renewing a rivalry with San Leandro guy is a big draw (in HS when I lived in Castro Valley I had a very friendly but very competitive rivalry with San Leandro's top miler in track). Shawn would no doubt crush me, but there would certainly be a nostalgic aura to it for me.

Yay for having children! Even if baby doesn't come early I may be able to sneak away for a day to hit up Origins. But that would be just to cover Worlds, so I won't be there for the qualifiers.

Original poster: downtown Columbus has plenty of stuff in walking distance. Hotels, food, etc. If you're flying in, your cheapest option might be to get a taxi to the hotel, and just make sure it's within walking ddistance from Origins. Renting a car could work, but you'd probably have to get a really cheap hotel away from downtown to offset the cost of the rental car and paying for parking. And be sure not to wear Michigan colors.

Dining options are ok in the convention center, but if you walk a block to the North Market, you'll be glad you did. Lots of independent food options and I've not had a bad one yet. I think the only place I haven't eaten is the fish market. I just Hotwired the Westin for $80 for a conference last Friday night. It was a little drive (1.5 miles) from the center, but I drove down from Akron and had my car anyway. Lots of one way streets around the convention center too, so be aware of that. Parking is mostly west of the center...

Thanks for the tips guys. I got spousal permission so I am in. Trying to pull my brother in law in as well. We should get a separate thread going for people to chime in with hotel and flight info so we could try to carpool and/or have meetups. Can't wait.

I'm going to try to make it for some if it, but it's still a bit of a long shot.

TOTALLY bummed to hear that, but I guess it s not surprising given that the qualifiers are at 10am on weekdays. I actually think it's wholly possible, if not likely, that the attendance is significantly lower for this than it was for nationals, which were Saturday/Sunday.

Both of the qualifiers are actually close to being full right now when I look at the registration. Over 100 people out of 128 spots for both. I'm surprised but that's a very good sign for Dice Masters!

I hope to go for at least a day but it's an 8 hour drive so it's not very realistic.

Both of the qualifiers are actually close to being full right now when I look at the registration. Over 100 people out of 128 spots for both. I'm surprised but that's a very good sign for Dice Masters!

I hope to go for at least a day but it's an 8 hour drive so it's not very realistic.

Wow, Gabe. I seriously owe you. Thanks. I figured there was no chance it would fill up. I just signed up and about 110 of 128 for each of the qualifiers.

My two cents: Origins is all about board gamers trying out new and different games to have fun. I would guess that the overwhelming majority of the people signed up are people who have little to no DM experience but want to give it a serious whirl. I would view that as a great thing for the game though--great exposure to lots of potential new players at an event where the game will receive a prestigious award. Seems like a recipe for growth to me. I guess we'll have to wait and see though, as I could obviously be totally wrong about the composition of players.

TOTALLY bummed to hear that, but I guess it s not surprising given that the qualifiers are at 10am on weekdays. I actually think it's wholly possible, if not likely, that the attendance is significantly lower for this than it was for nationals, which were Saturday/Sunday.

We had every intention of going - hotels booked and everything else set up - but then this winter happened. My wife is a teacher and the snow days took her from being done very early to being done the week AFTER Origins. Add to that, I just started a new job recently and don't want to be so liberal with the PTO so quickly. Believe me, I'm bummed too. I still might try to make it on Friday and Saturday but I can't make any guarantees.

We had every intention of going - hotels booked and everything else set up - but then this winter happened. My wife is a teacher and the snow days took her from being done very early to being done the week AFTER Origins. Add to that, I just started a new job recently and don't want to be so liberal with the PTO so quickly. Believe me, I'm bummed too. I still might try to make it on Friday and Saturday but I can't make any guarantees.

Well, hopefully at least Saturday will work for you. Would be great to meet you and you could at least get some prerelease AoU drafting in (at least I hope that will be offered; WizKids has been light on Origins details to date).